Power and brake application system for railway cars



April 27. 1 w. RICHARDSON POWER AND BRAKE APPLICAT IQN SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY CARS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed June 4, 1948 1 5 fig .H y

M Q [m1 mmw- William flit/7 ATTORNEYS.

April 27, 1954 w. RICHARDSON POWER AND BRAKE APPLICATION SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY CARS 2 sheets-sheet 2 Original Filed June 4, 1948 INVENTOR:

WlZll'fll/Z Edwards-0n, By Q1 m ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 27, 1954 UNITED 1 STATES f ENT OFFICE POWER AND BRAKE APPLICATION SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY CARS 2" Claims. l

Thisinvention relates topower and brake appplication systems for wheeled landvehicles. -.More particularly, it has reference to power and brake application systems for railway cars or" the type disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 2,602,694 granted to me on July 8, 1952 designed for use by track maintenance crews, the present application being a division of said patent.

The chief aim of the instant invention is to facilitate the operation of railway cars of the type referred to. This objective is realized in practice, as hereinafter more fully set forth, through provision of a simple and reliable mechanical system whereby the brakes are released concurrently with the application of wheeldriving power, and vice-versa, under manual control of an attendant on the car.

Other objects and attendant advantages will appear from the following detailed description of the attached drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a railway car conveniently embodying my improved power and brake application system.

Fig. 2 shows the car in top plan; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in section taken as indicated by the angled arrows III-III in Fig. 2.

The car herein illustrated by way of example, is of a type intended more especially for use by track maintenance crews, the same having a horizontal platform is, with side longitudinals l l and connecting cross members l2, and two pairs of flanged supporting wheels !3 arranged to run on track rails R, R. Mounted on the platform I!) along one side thereof at one corner, is a power unit It which may be of any approved commercial form, comprising a housing 5 wherein is enclosed a water-cooled internal combustion engine and a direct driven air compressor. these are represented respectively by the dotand dash line rectangles I1 and is in Figs. 1 and 2. By way of a pipe line l9, compressed air is conducted from the compressor [8 to a storage tank 2! mounted on the platform ii; at the adjacent corner of the latter, immediately rearward of the power unit :5. superposed upon the air tank 2! is a supply reservoir 23 for the fuel used to operate the internal combustion engine ii. For the propulsion of the car, I have shown an air motor 23' which, through a sprocket chain 25, is arranged to drive a power shaft composed of two axially-aligned sections 26 and 21,- see Fig. 3, the latter of these sections being connected, in turn, to one of the wheel axles M by another sprocket chain 28. When the car is to berun on the track rails R, the section 21 of the power shaft is coupled with the section by means of a clutch is arranged to be operated by a hand lever 35. Compressed air is conducted to the air motor 23 from the reservoir 2! through piping 3!, 3m, 3!?) (Fig. 2) under control of one or the other of two interposed hand valves i5 and respectively located at opposite ends of the truck. For reversing the motor 23, I have shown a manually operable valve with hand lever 32.

The brake mechanism includes shoes 33 which are pivotally hung from fixed brackets 34 adjacent the respective wheels i3. By means of toggle bars 35, the brake shoes 33 are connected to a link 35 suspended from a horizontal arm 3! on a transverse rock shaft 38. An upstanding arm 39, also secured to the rock shaft 38, is connected to the piston rod til of an air cylinder 4! which is movable about a fixed pivot 42. A spring 53, influential upon the piston of the cylinder it, serves to normally keep the brake shoes 33 set as shown in Fig. 1. The brake shoes are automatically released concurrently with starting of the motor 23 under control of either of the valves 5.5 or 46 upon admission of compressed air into the front end of the cylinder 4! by way of a branch connection 44 (Fig. 2) extending from a pipe 3H9. In order that the brakes may be manually released when necessary or desired, I have further provided a hand lever 4'! which is loosely connected at 38 to the piston rod 40 of the cylinder 4i. As shown, the hand lever 4'! has a retractable latch rod 49 capable of being engaged with a fixed angle bar 50 on the truck frame I!) when said lever is swung leftward in Fig. 1, to hold the brake shoes released.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that, upon operation of either of the valves 55 or 36, compressed air will be supplied to the cylinder 4! to efect retraction of the brake shoes 33, and also to the motor 23' to drive the car, the direction of travel depending upon the setting of the reversing valve lever 32. If it is desired to shift the car for short distances at any time, the brakes can be released against the pressure of the spring 43 in cylinder 41 by moving the hand lever 4? leftward in Fig. 1. Moreover, upon disconnecting the clutch 29 by means of the hand lever 30, the motor 23 may be utilized as a power source for purposes other than driving the car.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Combined power drive and brake control means for a railway car having a platform and front and rear supporting truck wheels, a source of compressed air on the platform, a propelling motor operatively connected to one of the wheel axles, brake shoes pivotally hung adjacent the respective wheels, a transversely-arranged rock shaft journalled in bearings medially of the car platform, lift arms at opposite ends of the rock shaft, longitudinally-arranged links respectively connected at one end to the brake shoes, the links at each side of the car having their opposite ends pivotally connected to each other and to the corresponding lift arm on the rock shaft, a third arm afiixed to the rock shaft, a brake actuating cylinder fulcrumed at its rear end for movement about a fixed axis on the car platform with its piston rod pivotally connected to said 15 2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the motor is operatively connected to one section of a divided power shaft, and one wheel axle is operatively connected to the other section of the power shaft; and further including a clutch with the mating components thereof respectively connected to corresponding ends of the power shaft sections; and manual means for engaging and disengaging the clutch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 141,272 Hill July 29, 1873 200,313 Kirby Feb. 12, 1878 742,722 Nelson Oct. 2'7, 1903 1,537,642 Lafiey May 12, 1925 1,555,350 Bolin Sept. 29, 1925 1,805,814 Durant May 19, 1931 1,940,550 Kazenmaier Dec. 19, 1933 2,246,923 Meunier June 24, 1941 2,442,125 Gunning May 25, 1948 2,445,585 Shaff July 20, 1948 

